Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

A Study on the Multimodal Localization Strategies of Multinational Corporate Websites: A Comparative Analysis of the Homepages of Chinese and Foreign Consumer Brand Websites in China

Chenyu ZhangUniversity of International Business and Economics*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

This study investigates the multimedial structures of websites of multinational companies and Chinese local brands, paying special attention to the multimedial localization methods used by multinational companies when they enter the Chinese market. In our investigation, we select the official Chinese websites of 10 foreign consumer brands and 10 Chinese consumer brands, in the same product categories (such as beverages, fast food, household products, automobiles, coffee, technology and retail). By using the multimedial annotation framework, a quantitative analysis is performed on 31 basic elements to compare the utilization of multimedial resources like text, images, videos and charts between Chinese and foreign brands. The results indicate that after entering the Chinese market, the foreign brands cannot fully match the multimedial webpage designs of the Chinese local brands. A tendency towards 'partial localization' has been discovered. This finding implies that the localization strategies of multinational company websites are influenced by a complicated procedure which takes into consideration both the need to preserve the global brand image and the necessity to adapt to the Chinese market. In fact, this 'partial localization' can serve as useful guidance for companies intending to expand internationally; they can selectively localize the culturally important aspects while maintaining a general consistent structure.

Keywords: multimodal analysis; localization strategy; multinational corporations; Chinese websites; paired comparison
Published: June 15, 2026
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2026.BJ34516
Volume: CHR Vol.110
pp. 211-221
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